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Stocking Stuffer

By

Dave Kansas Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

Updated Dec. 2, 2003 12:01 a.m. ET

The economic trimmings keep looking tastier. Construction spending: up. Gross domestic product: up. Consumer confidence: up. Even the lowly manufacturing sector can smell the egg nog. And, of course, the holiday sales season got off to a boffo start. Sales on the Friday after Thanksgiving were up an estimated 4.8% over last year, according to Chicago retail-data firm ShopperTrak.

But even with all of these economic levers moving in the right direction, retail shares may look Grinchy in the coming weeks. Monday, retailing...